Yesterday I visited the First Cemetery of Athens and paid my respects to the grave of children’s literature and fantasy author T.H. White. More photos and full report in this new piece: dimitrafimi.substack.com/p/finding-th...
@uofgfantasy.bsky.social @uofgartshums.bsky.social
Hello there, on holidays right now, but will get back to you the week after next!
Congratulations @realtomemanuel.bsky.social!
The nominees for Best Article in this year's Tolkien Society Awards, which includes my own piece "An Aspirational Cultus? Tolkien Fandom at the Borders of Belief," published in Mythlore in spring 2025. Yay! The other excellent candidates are: - "'In the Black Abyss There Appeared a Single Eye': The Gaze and Self-Fragmentation in The Lord of the Rings" by Farid Mohammadi (published in Critique: Studies in Contemporary Fiction) - "A Plane, a Plaque, and a Prize: J.R.R. Tolkien and Peter Medawar" by Kristine Larsen (published in Journal of Tolkien Research) - "The Wanderer's Return: New Findings on Tolkien in Oxford 1918–19" by John Garth and Peter Gilliver (published in Tolkien Studies) - "The Tides Of Time, The Tides Of Fate, And The Power Of Song" by Tom Hillman (published in Journal of Tolkien Research) - "Who Wrought It Slowly Long Ago" by Nicholas Birns (published in Journal of Tolkien Research)
How delightful to see "An Aspirational Cultus? Tolkien Fandom at the Borders of Belief" nominated for Best Article in this year's Tolkien Society Awards! I'm honored to be included alongside the likes of @nicholasbirns.bsky.social, @johngarthwriter.bsky.social, and @alas-not-me.bsky.social.
I fell into a rabbit hole when I thought, hang on a minute, how come Gandalf has a wizard’s hat AND a scarf? Too much thinking, researching, writing got me here 👇 🧙♂️
dimitrafimi.substack.com/p/the-slow-l...
Oh, brilliant! So glad he went for it! (Make sure our library gets a copy, Will!)
Proud to share that my PhD student @realtomemanuel.bsky.social passed his VIVA today (the “defense” in the US) with flying colours! He’s now the Rev. Dr. Thomas Emanuel!
His thesis title: “The Tale We’ve Fallen Into: J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings and the Post-Christian Quest for Meaning”.
Happy Tolkien Reading Day!
This is the first of a series of pieces recording my thoughts as I’m going through a slow re-read of The Lord of the Rings.
dimitrafimi.substack.com/p/the-slow-l...
Brilliant! Thank you!
A curious little charity shop find, which I was lucky enough to be gifted. Does anyone know these books and characters?
Small tortoiseshell butterfly in our garden this afternoon. Look at these blue patches along the borders of its wings! 🦋
Happy St. Patrick's Day! Lá Fhéile Pádraig sona duit! ☘️
Today’s piece looks at Irish folklore, music and heritage in an award-winning YA fantasy novel that plays with time and myth!
dimitrafimi.substack.com/p/chronicall...
@uofgfantasy.bsky.social
##NowReading A Secret Vice: Tolkien on Invented Languages, edited by @dimitrafimi.bsky.social & @ashiggins.bsky.social #BookSky
Oh, excellent! Hope you’re enjoying it!
Oooh, that’s lovely!
Happy Mothering Sunday! #MotheringSunday #MothersDay #Tolkien
@tolkiensociety.org @tolkienwonder.bsky.social
Art by Catherine Chmiel
dimitrafimi.substack.com/p/for-mother...
Yesterday I taught Alan Garner’s The Owl Service and Kate Thompson’s The New Policeman. We discussed the two novels’ reception of the Welsh Mabinogion and Irish tales of the Tuatha Dé Danann. Both novels are examined in my book, Celtic Myth in Contemporary Children’s Fantasy. 🏴 🇮🇪 🦉 🕰️
This week I taught @naominovik.bsky.social’s Spinning Silver. We talked about Slavic folklore, Jewish culture and identities, biblical allusions, spinning, gold, honouring agreements, and the Rumpelstiltskin fairy-tale retold.
See also the amazing Staryk King mask one of my students made!
When did the tiny fairy trope begin? In today’s piece (part 2/2) I’m looking at the evidence from the most recent fairy scholarship, incl. by Ronald Hutton and @drfrancisyoung.bsky.social. And, of course, I am closing with a verdict on Tolkien's own view! 🧚
dimitrafimi.substack.com/p/when-did-t...
Rhubarb unfurling in the sunshine! Look at this colour! ☀️
Today, #WorldBookDay, I taught Philippa Pearce’s award-winning novel Tom’s Midnight Garden. We talked about time-slip fantasies, the garden as a childhood space, the links of this novel with Peter Pan, historical constructions of childhood, and intergenerational empathy.
What are you reading today?
Lovely to receive my copy of Catherine Fisher’s The Candleman, part of @fireflypress.bsky.social’s Classics from Wales series. It was a real pleasure to write the introduction for this one! If you haven’t read it, it’s an ideal gift for young (and older!) fantasy readers! 🕯️ 🏴
Celebrating the Centenary of A VOYAGE TO ARCTURUS
A 2020 conversation between Lindsay specialist Douglas A. Anderson, Prof @rokewood.bsky.social, & author Nina Allan, discussing the novel & its influence on #fantasy, hosted by Prof @dimitrafimi.bsky.social
💙📚
4/4
www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6Hp...
Calling all naturalists! Is this a pine marten in my Scottish garden???!!! (I think the tail is too bushy for a stoat or weasel? But not sure at all!)
When did the tiny fairy trope begin? In today’s piece (part 1 of 2) I’m considering this question, looking at the work of Minor White Latham and Katharine Briggs in the 20th century. In my next piece I’ll bring us up to date with current research. 🧚
dimitrafimi.substack.com/p/when-did-t...
Spring is springing! 🌸
Today I taught Mary Norton’s The Borrowers, using my “little Victorian/Edwardian things” collection of objects. My little Arrietty model is cut to size from the illustrations of Beth and Joe Krush.
Yesterday + today I taught Philip Pullman’s Northern Lights (The Golden Compass in the US). We discussed resonances with Milton’s Paradise Lost and Blake’s poetry/art, how Dust + Daemons function in Lyra’s world, the fantasy/SF blend in Pullman’s worldbuilding, and the cost of opening portals.
Ah, that’s interesting - the term “paracosms” in children’s lit/childhood studies refers to worlds children make while playing (often invested on and expanded over a longer period).
Yup, working on another piece on the “thumbling” folklore motif so will be coming back to all of those! 😊
